Monday, June 04, 2012

I remarked last week on Twitter about how NDP leader Tom
Mulcair has been dominating my daily news clip package lately, as his comments
about an alleged Canadian case of “Dutch Disease” and subsequent trip to the
Alberta oil sands spark a heated debate about the Canadian resource sector and
its impact on the manufacturing sector and the wider economy.

A piece in Macleans recently helped put into context how
this debate is an example of a rare issue where it’s advantageous to both sides
to stoke the fire, something the NDP and the Conservatives have wasted no time
doing.

It was a rare case of
both sides seizing on the same acrimonious argument as a potential political
winner. If they continue to see it that way, this regionally sensitive clash
over economic and environmental policies could be a defining factor in framing
the choice between continued Conservative rule and the NDP alternative. So get
ready for “Dutch disease” to claim a key place in the vernacular of federal
politics.

The article doesn’t mention the Liberals at all, save a
throw-away line about Mulcair not wanting to be defined by the Conservatives as
were Michael Ignatieff and Stephane Dion. And that omission is telling, for
this whole Dutch Disease/resource sector debate raises (for Liberals, if no one
else) an important question: in a Canada where the political debate is increasingly
polarized between left and right, NDP and Conservatives, are the Liberals being
squeezed out?

Polarizations of the sort we’re seeing around this issue
tend to lead to a simplification of the issues: make dirty polluters pay,
support a valuable strategic industry that provides billions in tax revenue.
And that’s what we’re seeing here: black and white lines being drawn.

Of course, in modern governance few, if any issues are black
and white, and neither are the actual positions of the respective antagonists in this
debate, even if they underplay that. There are many reasons for the decline of Ontario’s manufacturing sector. Few suggest
shutting down the oil sands tomorrow. And credible plans to price carbon have
been rejected by both sides. Still, it serves both sides to oversimplify the
debate into good vs. evil, which side is which depending on your perspective.

While the NDP and Conservatives may be well-served by oversimplifying
complex topics, the question is, are Canadians? I think most Canadians wouldn’t
fit neatly into either camp on this issue. I think most would say we need to
develop the oil sands in as green and sustainable a way as possible, as we do
need those jobs and tax dollars and while, yes, we must develop alternative
fuel sources, in the interim the world does still run on oil. And we must do
what we can to ensure a vibrant economy in all regions of the country.

That’s not a position we’re hearing from either the NDP or
the Conservatives in this debate, although many on either side would probably
agree with it. We’ve heard little to nothing from the Liberals through this
debate, thepoints they’ve had being drowned-out by the polarized din from
either side.

Is there room for the Liberals to take a middle-ground
position in this debate? And, even though it may be shared by many Canadians,
would it even be heard above the noise of the left vs. right battle?

I don’t know. But the Liberals are going to have to find a
way to make themselves heard on this and other issues, because this
polarization isn’t going to be going away. This phenomenon is going to become
more and more common and the Liberals risk being rendered irrelevant in the
national debate. This issue is emblematic of the challenge facing our party.

And whether or not it’s from the Liberals, Canadians do
deserve another option besides an oversimplified left and an oversimplified
right.

When the Liberals decided to attack Mulcair by echoing the CPC they lost their chance to put their voice forward.

They should have put forward the position that we need resource development and policies, industrial development and policies AND environmental protection and policies. And the other 2 parties are only for one each of these three.

When the CPC and NDP are sounding childish that is when a reasoned mature liberal voice can make an impact.

Canada has lost, Caterpillar, Aveos, Bombardier and G.M. is the next to go, even though millions of our tax dollars went to G.M. How many more company's will go back to the U.S. and to third world country's? Mulcair is exactly right...we are losing our manufacturing.

Harper is permitting China, to buy up the tar sands. He has allowed China to bring their own people, to work their vast tar sands holdings. they refuse to pay Canadians wages. So too, will the dirty oil be refined in China. Harper is even permitting China, to bring hoards over, to build the Enbridge pipeline.

Gordon Campbell gave BC to China, long ago. Our mill industry, China owns BC mines. China is bringing their own over, to work the mines too.

Harper and Campbell, signed a sneak deal, behind the people of BC's backs, as usual. Harper says, he can force the Enbridge pipeline and the dirty tar tankers, onto the BC citizens and province. Between Harper and the Campbell/Clark BC Liberals, they totally, financially destroyed BC.

Over 75% and counting, BC citizens, are supporting the F.N. to stop the atrocities of the Enbridge pipeline and the dirty tar tankers, from coming into BC.